Broken Hearted
by AndVioletsAreBlue
Summary: PERCABETH Annabeth's cousin steals everything away from her, and the Wise Girl herself is kidnapped by Luke... Percy and Grover travel to the Underworld on a quest to save her.
1. Living Tartarus

**Hey guys this is my first Percy Jackson fic. It's Percabeth (naturally) just letting you know. A lot of you have been telling me that this is too similar to another (awesome) fic called Don't You Forget, and that's mostly because I've PMed the author for ideas before starting on this. But it's going to be totally different, believe you me, involving Annabeth-Luke-Percy triangle and Annabeth-Chelsea (who is a child of Athena by the way)-Percy triangle. A trip to the Underworld, an absolutely clueless prophecy. Sit back and enjoy!!**

**Smiles,**

**Annabeth**

* * *

No, no, _no_!!!!!

This could _not_ be happening to me. I would _not_ accept it.

But as if to prove me wrong, a trilling voice drifted up the stairs and into my crammed attic room.

"Oh Anna!! Get up already, you sleepy head!!" and to my utter horror she burst through the door and started shaking me so hard that my whole bed shook. Gee, she could've been the daughter of Poseidon for all I knew. I did not know how it could get worse, Chelsea, my one and only cousin (AND MY SISTER NOW THAT SHE'S BEEN CONFIRMED A CHILD OF ATHENA) staying with us for who knows how many millennias.

What I _didn't_ know was, it was about to get worse.

I groaned and ran a hand through the rat's nest that I called hair.

"Chels, leave me alone!!" I growled through the tattered grey beddings.

"Do you have any idea what time it is??" she rolled her chocolate brown doe eyes. Her gaze zeroed right on me and suddenly they gleamed dangerously. "Guess what guess what guess what!! I AM GOING TO CAMP HALF-BLOOD WITH YOU!!!!!" she squealed right into my ear.

"WHAT???" I bellowed, everything else forgotten, jumping up so quickly that blood rushed to my head making me dizzy.

"That's right," she gloated. "I'm going to STAY with you for the REST OF THE SUMMER!!!"

I was furious. How dare she! She just has to do better than me, always beating me in everything, smirking when she did so -- which was often.

"Come on Anna hurry up and get dressed!! Here let me help." She sighed in mock exasperation as I glared at her taunting figure and started to dig through my wardrobe.

"Ewww and you're supposed to wear this??" she said loudly, holding up my tattered teddy bear pyjamas gingerly by the hem.

"Give me that!" I said angrily as I started stuffing everything that Chels discarded into my grey suitcase.

Chelsea snorted. "Anna no offense (she obviously meant offense) but those clothes are _so_ out of style." She struck up a pose in her black lacy dress with scarlet sandals with heels and ruby pendant.

"This is real ruby you know." Chelsea smirked as she surveyed me gawking. "It only cost about $3,000."

"That's it!!" I roared. "Out! Out!"

"What ever you say, miss." She blew a kiss at me.

I dragged my junk dressing table in front of the door and headed for the bath. Sighing, I examined myself as I stripped for the bath and waited for the hot water. I had a light tan, long caramel-gold curls that tumbled down halfway between my waist and shoulders, which now stuck straight up in a chaotic bun, and stormy grey eyes fringed with dark blond lashes. I pictured Chelsea. She had fluffy crimson curls and big brown oh-so-innocent eyes and impossibly long eyelashes. She had a light tan like me, but more evenly spread, and she was taller too.

I shook my head crossly to stop the crazy comparisons and stepped into the bath. The warm soapy water calmed me.

The shower was quick and as soon as I stepped out of bath and into my old dressing gown, the high trill that had haunted me so often was heading toward me again.

"Anna!! Hurry up already!!" Oh gods, she even stole the key to the bathroom!! I felt like Grover when he was trapped in a cave by Polyphemus.

Wait…Polyphemus, huh? I had a sudden flash of inspiration. I whipped off my invisibility cap and squashed it on top of my wet hair, being extra careful to position it so that it stayed dry. Just as I finished, Chels burst through the door.

"Anna!!...Huh??" she narrowed her eyes and looked around. Her eyes swept past me twice. Uh-oh, maybe this plan wasn't as brilliant as I thought it would be. And on top of that I had to go to the toilet, too. I shifted my weight to the other foot, causing my traitorous bathroom tiles to creak a tiny bit. Chelsea didn't notice anything. As if to check the temperature, she got out a bucket and dunked it in the tub. Then she suddenly whipped around and splashed the whole bucketful all over me!!!

"Aaargh!!" I screamed as the water hit me. My devil cousin leaped at me and snatched my prized hat off my head. It was the driest part of me, and the most important too, in my opinion. Chelsea smirked evilly. Very deliberately, very slowly she dangled the hat over the soapy water.

"NO!!" I cried. I leapt toward Chelsea and made a wild grab for my cap. The good news: I succeeded in seizing the hat. The bad news: My evil cousin straight from Tartarus shoved me into the water with a delighted screech, hat, dressing gown and all.

"Chelsea!!!! You moronic pig!!!!!!" I shrieked.

Then the bell rang in the doorway.

"Oh my gods!!" I whispered. I had completely forgotten that Percy was coming to pick me (and now Chelsea too, I suppose) up and to our beloved camp for heroes.

I tore down the corridor, not daring to stop and adjust my dripping hair just in case Chelsea herself opened the door. I wouldn't be able to bear it if Chels was rude to Percy.

Turns out that there was no need to worry about _that_.


	2. How Could You

I wrenched the door open, breathless and puffing. And there stood Percy, his sea green eyes gleaming and his lips pulled up in a genuine smile. He didn't seem too surprised at my less-than-normal appearance.

"Hey Wise Girl. Been swimming??" he grinned.

I rolled my eyes, falling easily into our old routine. It hasn't been, well… exactly the same with Percy. I liked him, and as much as I hated to admit it out loud, I _really_ liked him. He didn't. "Seaweed Brain, I think I'll leave the swimming to you since you can't drown."

"Hmm… Let me help with that." He said and he reached out a hand and caught a strand of dripping honey gold lock. It was dry instantly.

Five minutes later, I was dry and ready to go.

"Hey thanks." I said, struggling to keep cool. Was he so blind that he could not feel the electricity coursing through my veins from the spot of skin that he touched.

Suddenly he stiffened, and his eyes widened in astonishment.

"Who is that??" he whispered.

"Huh?" I turned around and spotted Chelsea. I steeled myself. Here comes trouble.

"That's just my cousin Chelsea Johnson, who is to accompany us to the Camp." My voice sounded strangled, but Percy didn't notice a thing. Definitely unlike Percy.

He was too busy staring at my cousin, who returned his gaze by a wink.

She sauntered toward Percy in a way that I instantly despised, and struck out her hip.

"Hey. I'm Chelsea. You must be Percy Jackson. I heard a lot about you." she winked.

"Uh…" was all he could manage.

Feeling uneasy, I glanced at my best friend again anxiously before I left to get changed.

I had my outfit carefully planned weeks ago (_so_ unlike me), but I knew that I could never outshine Chelsea. I stared long and hard at my best clothes, and my brows puckered. They suddenly seemed too cheap and childish next to Chelsea's clothes.

I put on a silver semi-see through top, light and strapless, with a pair of mini black jeans that barely showed, followed by silver sandals with mini heels. I had silver chains at my wrists and neck, but they seemed to dressy now, so I took them off. Then put them back on. I sighed. This was going to be harder than I expected. My silver owl earrings glittered at my ears. I had my hair down in long waves brushed out carefully. I finished my look with a sliver of silver eye makeup.

With that I took a deep breath and let myself in the hallway.

***CHANGE OF POV *** -- in the hallway as Annabeth got ready

Percy was stunned by this girl, who, in everyway, was so absolutely opposite to Annabeth that he couldn't believe that these two were cousins. Chelsea observed with interest a boy that Annabeth had avoided talking about. The redhead smiled wickedly, fluffed up her hairdo, lowered the neckline of her tight lacy dress to a dizzying point, and turned to Percy with a coy (and completely false – though of course Seaweed Brain didn't notice) smile.

"Hey, Percy. Annabeth told me a lot about you, you know." She started.

"Like…?" he asked, rather breathlessly, as she inspected this with a pleased smirk.

"She asked me to not be your friend, she doesn't like sharing. She'll kill me if I don't do what she says." She said in the saddest, the loneliest voice that she could muster.

"But that's not fair." he said, frowning. Perfect, she thought.

"She said other things too."

"Like how, even though you're really good looking-" she started.

"She said I'm _what_?" he interrupted, amazed.

"Like how you're so good looking but doesn't have a girlfriend." She finished with a seductive pout of lips. He gawped at her.

"And since Annabeth wants you for her friend, and HER friend only…

I guess I'm going to have to be your girlfriend." With that Chelsea Johnson leaned in and met Percy Jackson's surprised, frozen lips with a kiss.

He answered back numbly, deepening the kiss but out of shock rather than enthusiasm. Chelsea persisted, and the male part of Percy overruled his common sense. They clung onto each other, their lips glued together.

"What…are…you…DOING!!!!!!"

Percy pulled away from the girl, horrified at himself, but even more scared to face the athletic blond now trembling just a little away. Before he could open his mouth, however, the redhead answered with artificial sugar innocence, the kind that makes you gag and cough.

"Why, Anna, I'm just socializing with some friends, like you told me to do." Annabeth took a deep shuddering breath. Percy automatically looked up, and was totally gobsmacked at the girl that he had known for years. She looked absolutely dazzling.

"Annabeth!" he whispered, stunned.

"What Percy?? Oh of course, don't think that I'm interrupting your _private moment_. Go on ahead." with that she stormed out, her cheeks coloured angry red and her grey eyes livid and brimming with tears.

"Stop snapping at me!" Percy yelled in frustration. Annabeth sobbed harder, taking it as his resentment towards her.

She ripped off her clothes and accessories all except for the earrings and put on her ragged stained Camp T-shirt and the rattiest, dirtiest jeans she could find. She rubbed furiously over her tears and found her fists glittering silver. She put on her ripped hi-tops and mussed her hair angrily.

Sobs broke from her mouth as Annabeth faced her mirror, the glorious moment of illusion gone.


	3. Flying Alone

***Annabeth's POV:***

"Chiron??" My voice was thick, but at least I was looking better. Dad won't let me wear the dirty clothes, and insisted on me wearing my clean lilac blouse with embroideries and a pair of fresh jeans. I obeyed quietly, though I truly detested the blouse (ugh) and the jeans were at least a size too big for me.

"What is it? Are you alright Annabeth?" Chiron's voice was alarmed, but it had a strange sense of home in the words.

"Yes…I mean, no, not really. Could I please borrow one of the camp pegasi?" my voice broke in strange places.

Chiron studied my agonized face for a second before nodding.  
"Blackjack will be there in a minute."

"No!" I said too quickly. My beloved sort-of second father scrutinized my hardened expression. "Please can Porkie Pie come instead?" I pleaded.

"As you wish, dear child." And the mist figure swirled and evaporated.

I sat down on my bed, and let the thoughts that I had so desperately tried to contain shower me freely with their malice. Anger, despair, horror, shock… and finally numbness as the tears fell again onto the pillows.

"Oh, my!!!" came a shriek from the doorway, followed by a series of neighs and snorts.

"_Vlacas_," I hissed as I shot up and dashed down stairs with my leather suitcase. I'd forgotten the pegasi.

"Annabeth!!" my stepmother shot a reproachful but rather amused glance at me. Her red highlights glinted strangely unearthly in the sun.

"Sorry. I gotta go." I muttered as I pushed past her.

"Take care, dear!" she shouted as we flew higher and higher until my house was just a matchbox.

And some time during the trip, my feelings toward the incident changed. Let Chelsea have him. After all, he was just another stupid blind dog.

And now Chelsea had him on her leash.

* * *

**I'm so sorry that this chapter was short!!! but I couldn't think of any other ways to make it longer!!!  
The next one will be about Camp Half Blood and the 4th July incident. To make it longer, REVIEW!!!**

**Feel free to ask questions about the story and I'll put them on the end of the next chappie.**

**By the way, a lot of you have been telling me that this story is similar to _Don't You Forget_, another Percabeth fic, and yes, I got this idea from that one, and I had PMed the author for ideas (since it's an awesome fic).**

**I don't mind constructive criticism but reasonable ones only!**

**Thanks!!! **


	4. 4th of July Fireworks

It's only been a couple of weeks at the camp and that Chelsea owns the place. Even Chiron seems to turn a blind eye on her deliberate wrongdoings – wrongdoings that were mostly toward me.

I checked the calendar. It was June the 3rd… No, wait a moment, that wasn't right! I rubbed my sleepy eyes and checked again. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Hey Sophia!" I yelled to another Athena kid. "What's the date?"

"It's July the 3rd!" came the reply. July the 3rd. _July_ the 3rd.

"Holy Zeus!" I shouted, springing up from my bed like Echidna had bitten my butt. The cabin fell silent and looked at me like I was crazy. I didn't care. It was only a day before the 4th of July Fireworks, the biggest dating event of the year!!

Wait, why did I care? I never fussed over these things before like some star-struck Aphrodite girl. I was Athena's daughter, the strategist, the cool geek. Ignore the geek part. But still, I never did care.

I raked through my suitcase and came up with a strapless green tunic top and skinny jean, which I thought was pretty cool. Until I saw Chelsea herself hanging from Percy's arm, wearing a black tank top with gold glitter. Worse still, she saw me staring and smirked at me, then twisted around to kiss Percy full on the lips. He responded, which made bile rise to my throat. I wanted to gag, or rip something apart.

"Annabeth! Hey, wait!" it was Percy. He ran toward me, Chelsea at his tail.

I turned to go.

Percy caught me by the arm. "Please, just listen. You know tomorrow, I-"

"Hey Anna. Hey Seaweed Brain." It was Chelsea again, interrupting at the most important moment. I wanted to ignore her, to urge Percy to continue, but my brain was screaming, how _dare_ she call Percy Seaweed Brain!! It was _my_ name, _mine_!! I turned and ran.

***Rachel's POV:***

I sighed. My head was swirling with images, images that I both understood and didn't understand. The lilac veil shrouded my human vision, but it felt strangely comforting, not at all claustrophobic. I could instead see things more clearly than before. I smiled secretly. _Lord Apollo, bless thine soul._ I was born for this…

My head snapped up. My mind's eye focused on the broken figure of Annabeth, her despair coursing through _my_ veins, her jealousy and resentment _my_ emotions… Then it changed. Percy confused and hurt by Annabeth's coldness… Chelsea, smug as she kissed him deeply in front of Annabeth…

I frowned. Though we weren't exactly best friends, I knew that Annabeth liked me now that I was the Oracle. She would sometimes email me about her days in California, or her worries about her sketches of Olympian temples. I had to warn Percy… I drifted through dream and vision, until, at last, I found peace…

***Aphrodite's POV:***

I let my mind drift as Lord Zeus droned on and on about how the world is collapsing under pollution and global warming and blah blah blah…

Whipping out my jewelled mirror, I gazed into my perfect face. I sighed with pleasure. Lustrous locks of golden blond hair, sparkling sapphire eyes like spring water fringed with long lashes, perfect straight nose and flawless soft skin, impossibly full cherry lips curling at the corners…

"Aphrodite!"

I looked up and saw Ares' handsome face inches from mine. But, feeling Hephaestus's, my ugly husband, eyes boring into us, I winked and blew him a kiss. See you later, I mouthed.

Like everyone else, I looked different to Ares. The most attractive look that the other can imagine, I smirked. I snapped my delicate fingers and there was a cherry glitter lipstick in my hand. Smacking my lips together after I was done, I sighed and let my godly powers find the latest gossip in the immortal world. Hmm, so Persephone might be cheating on Hades, huh? Imagine making out with one of the dead… I snorted. How dumb. Demeter and Poseidon?? Now there's a new one. Psyche pregnant with Eros' child?? My head snapped up. Ugh. And last…hmmm, Percy Jackson the Hero of Olympus and a child of Athena?? What's her name, Annabelle? Annie Belle? Annabeth. I smiled. Poseidon and Athena wouldn't be too pleased. And the girl's cousin stealing away Percy?? How cute, like Romeo and Juliet written by my son Shakespeare!

I have to make this into a Hephaestus TV programme, I thought smugly.

Now, for the climax of the story, I'll put in a pint of jealousy, half a cup of anger and confusion mixture, and a litre of love and trust…

My eyes opened again and they glittered mischievously. Time for some fun, I thought.

***Percy's POV:***

It was evening now, but not just any evening, THE evening, the 4th of July evening.

"Percy!!" squealed Chelsea. She looked hot, I admit, but my eyes kept wandering toward Annabeth wearing the same ratty Camp T-shirt and jeans. We headed toward the log where Annabeth and I always sat together despite the wolf-whistles from the other campers. It felt strangely empty now, as if Annabeth, who was sitting huddled in a corner with Nico, neglected and unnoticed by anyone else, had taken a chunk of me with her. Chelsea snuggled up to me, but I didn't respond. Looking around, I noticed every face staring at me and Chels. Even Grover and Juniper were staring back and forth between me and Annabeth like they were watching a tennis match. Only Silena and Beckendorf were oblivious, locked in a tight embrace.

The fireworks started, and as usual, it was mind-bogglingly awesome, but I felt uneasy. Like I shouldn't be here. I wanted to stand up and close the space between me and Wise Girl, my best friend, in two long strides, but I couldn't. Chelsea had me pinned down.

"I really should thank Anna for this you know." She said loudly. "If it wasn't for her, then I would never have met Percy." She simpered when she said my name. Annabeth tightened her grip on her legs and started to rock back and forth. Everyone was silent now. No one was watching the fireworks any more, no matter how many times the Hephaestus cabin cleared their throat.

Taking my eyes away from Annabeth's hunched figure, I realised that they were waiting for _me_ to say something.

"Uh…yeah." I stuttered.

Then I was kissing Chelsea in front of the whole camp, in front of Annabeth. I responded automatically. Big mistake.

Annabeth stopped rocking back and forth. She took a big shuddering breath and got up. Everybody froze. She slowly walked toward me and Chelsea's locked figure.

_Slap!_

I felt my cheek sting like Hydra poison had just splattered it, and my eyes exploded with white and gold stars. Then I saw Annabeth running, running away from the beach and into the cabins.

Silence. Then Chelsea was squealing again, "Percy, are you alright??"

"She hits hard, man. You should've heard the sound. _Slap_!" Lee Fletcher babbled. "_Perrr-cy_! You okay?" Grover bleated.

"I'm fine…" I started to say. "I have to find…get Annabeth…"

But Chelsea pulled me down and kissed me again. I pushed her away and started to make my way toward the cabins but was enveloped in a delighted herd of Aphrodite girls questioning me about Chelsea-Percy-Annabeth triangle, the latest camp gossip, etc. By the time I managed to get to the Athena cabin, it was empty. Annabeth wasn't there. I touched the place where she slapped me, and remembered that years ago, she had kissed me at Mt Helens in the exact same place.

***Rachel's POV:***

"Thank you, Rachel." The blond girl before me sniffed. I patted her dirt-streaked hair into place.

"Don't worry. I'll help you." I said in a strong voice. She gave me a watery smile before dragging herself out of the door.

"Bye," she whispered.

"See you, Annabeth." I answered. She paused by the door.

"By the way, you look nicer without the veil." I laughed.

The door closed with a creak, and I sighed.

_Percy, why hurt Annabeth when you love her?_


	5. Thanks Again for the Prophecy

I sighed and dangled my legs in the churning black water of the lake. It was nearly midnight now, and the harpies would be here soon, like Grover said before he left me to my brooding, but I just couldn't bear to go back to the cabin where everyone treated Chelsea like a hero.

Deciding that I couldn't drag it out longer, I stood up and turned my back to the river.

Then something rustled in a clump of bushes ahead of me.

Instinctively I drew out my bronze knife, sharpened to extreme and glinting strange gold (all I did nowadays in the free slots was to polish and sharpen it) and narrowed my eyes.

"Oh, it's just you, Nico." I exhaled in relief and sheathed my knife again.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. He had lost even more weight in last two days, and his face, pale and drawn, was crumpled with pain and anger. His shockingly black circles under his eyes were accentuated by his alabaster white face.

"Nico? What's wrong? What are you doing out here? Is something chasing you?" I asked, frowning. His sheath was empty. He didn't want to be caught by the harpies, I suppose. They were attracted to Stygian ice. Not just harpies, either. I forced down a shudder.

"I am so sorry, Annabeth. He threatened me…Bianca…" his whisper was barely audible over the sound of running water.

"Who threatened you?" I whispered, my voice rising an octave, tensing.

"I am truly sorry, Annabeth." He whispered again.

Then he pounded his fists to the ground, tears in his eyes, and suddenly the ground split open beneath me. I screamed one short, bloodcurdling scream before the darkness swallowed me.

***Percy's POV:***

_Thunk!_

My eyes opened, and I gasped out aloud. I stumbled up, too shocked to realise that I had just fallen off the bed…

_It was just a dream… _I thought to myself. But a scream, Annabeth's scream, was ringing inside my skull…

My raven-feather-black hair was tangled and damp with sweat, my nightclothes bedraggled, but I had only one thought in my mind: Annabeth was in trouble.

Demigod dreams suck, but they're really useful sometimes. Not that I like them, 'course. Having the Titan Lord dragging me into the deepest pits of Tartarus while laughing evilly is hardly the most exciting event of the century.

"Chiron!!" I half-screamed, half-panted as I struggled to get my words out.

"Annabeth…trouble….screamed for help…my fault…" suddenly I was sure that it was my fault, however loosely related.

"What is it child?" A great half-stallion galloped to me, and his gaze was intense as I told him of my nightmare. She was like a second daughter to him.

In my dream, I saw Annabeth in a flowing Greek dress, a silky gold fabric sprinkled with tiny fragments of shimmering rainbow gemstones, her hair braided with gold and twirled up, also scattered with gems, and I would've been speechless as I had been two days ago, except for the fact that her eyes were wide and raging with emotions that I couldn't understand, like conflict, rage, uncertainty and sheer, utter horror. And that it was the traditional costume of the goddesses of Olympus. Something about that made it even creepier. She was swaying on a hillside, a garden with jewels instead of plants, a mountain with a over-sized boulder behind her in the distance…

I could taste the resentment and unearthliness in the air.

Then I saw Luke.

He was standing a little apart from me, his pose identical to mine, his arms reaching out toward Annabeth.

Man, was I angry. He had _no_ right to plead to Annabeth like that. After all, he was dead.

"Chiron!" I yelled suddenly, causing him to jolt to stop. I didn't realise he had put me on his back.

"Percy?" he asked.

"Annabeth is…she's…oh gods, she's in the UNDERWORLD!!!!" my insides grew cold, as if the wind god Zephyrus himself was personally taking his revenge on me.

Chiron was silent for a moment, and then the horror and shock in his eyes were replaced by determination.

"Consult the Oracle." His reply was short and bleak.

--

"Uh…Rachel??" I asked the door, feeling stupid.

"Come in, Percy." Was her distant reply.

She was sitting on a gilded stool, her face veiled with a light purple cloth, but I could still see the glittering green eyes behind them.

"Well, how are you?" I asked lamely.

"I'm fine thanks. Though I don't think _you're_ feeling very fine at the moment." Her expression turned stern behind the veil. "Percy…" she hesitated. "Annabeth was very upset you know. I know about Chelsea more than you do, Percy…" she pursed her lips, refusing to continue.

"But you never met her!" I burst out. She smiled.

"I know."

I nibbled at my bottom lip. Chelsea. The truth was, I wasn't happy with her. She was flirty, she was pretty, she had a perfect figure, but every time she held my hand, or kissed me, I felt disgusted with myself. My heart didn't pound like mad. I don't feel that strange sense of relief when I see Chelsea running toward me. My brain didn't turn to liquid like it did when Annabeth had kissed me. Okay, so I'm babbling. Who cares? I loved Annabeth. But Annabeth loved Luke, always have, always will.

"Yes, I am perfectly happy with her, thanks." I answered sharply.

Rachel didn't answer. I looked up flinched at the sight of the green mist pouring out from under the veil. It enveloped me.

I saw the three devil math teachers – sorry, the Furies -- glaring at me, and instinctively I reached for Riptide, only to realise that I was in my pyjamas, which had no pockets. Great. But thankfully – or seriously _un_-thankfully – they lashed out their whips and said in strange, raspy voices:

"_Three things lost in the land without clouds,  
A child of owls to be wrapped in a shroud,  
A blade of an oath, stolen from the king,  
And an emotion stronger than any bitter stings,  
One must descend and retrieve them all,  
But betrayal of the most trusted shall be his fall,  
Uncertainty and mistrust shall cloak his way,  
And fail to save the burning shroud grey."_

I left the room with a pale face and sweaty palms. It was morning now, and everyone was up.

"Seaweed Brain!" a girl shouted.

My head snapped up, hoping fiercely to see a girl with curly blond hair bouncing toward me, rolling her stormy eyes at my stupidity, only to have it fall back again in disappointment as Chelsea pulled me in a deep kiss. Rachel's voice spoke in my head over and over again as I struggled to break the kiss _subtly_. _Are you happy with Chelsea?_ _Are you happy with Chelsea? Are you happy with Chelsea? Was I??_

"Where's Annabeth?" I asked suddenly.

"Don't know." She said casually. Then her eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask??" she looked at me like some troublemaker. Go figure.

Then, lead by some strange sixth sense, I headed to the canoe lake with Chels trailing behind me, chatting to Silena Beauregard nineteen to dozen about brands of lipstick and designer clothes.

At last I reached the clearing where my senses were screaming 'HERE!!!!!" at me, and I saw…

Nothing.

Great, I thought. So much for the sixth sense junk. I felt exhausted, and decided to go for a swim since the water always calmed me and sharpened my strengths. I took off my shirt when I heard Chelsea squeal behind me.

"Wow." She said, eyeing my muscled stomach appreciatively.

"Um, thanks." I quickly turned around to avoid any more of her heavy comments. Then I heard new giggles, and saw a bunch of Aphrodite girls huddled near the water, ogling at me like Chels. I jumped in the water and forgot all the worries. I just drifted…

Okay, all the worries except one. Or two.

_A child of owl wrapped in a shroud… _Shut up, I told the voice angrily. _And fail to save the burning shroud grey… Grey for Athena…_ I ducked under the water and swam fiercely to the bottom.

"Percy…PERCY!!!" someone screamed.

"Wha…What happened?" I was momentarily freaked out by the large bubbles issuing from my mouth until I realised that I had fallen asleep at the bottom of the lake. Great to know that I was the son of Poseidon.

I emerged from the water and found Grover chewing nervously at a tin can.

"Hey, G-man. What's wrong?" I asked as I pulled my shirt over my perfectly dry body.

"I smell something bad here." He answered in a small voice.

I stopped.

"Where? What does it smell like? Monsters?" I asked, a lump rising to my throat at the last word.

"_Underworld._" He corrected, spraying me with bits of soda can.

"Holy Olympus!" I whispered. "Look. At. That."

There was a deep but thin grove etched in the earth, snaking for about three meters before stopping. A trace of a fissure in the ground…

"Chiron!" my voice cracked. "Look!"

A magnificent half of a white stallion came into view, topped with a human top half.

"_Di immortales_," he said after a moment of silence. "She has been kidnapped."

* * *

**Hey guys sorry to tell you that I've had some technical issues with the Document Manager and I might not be able to update for a while… Sorry!**

**I'll still be writing more so don't worry.**

**Smiles,**

**Annabeth**


	6. Long Time No See, Lord of the Dead

"Owwww…" I groaned as I resurfaced to consciousness. My back, my neck, my chest, my legs, my arms – they all hurt even as I lay still.

"A demigod??" hissed a voice above me somewhere. I rubbed my sore eyes and looked around. And very nearly fainted again.

I was lying in a very awkward angle, in what looked like a huge, skyless, endless cavern of darkness, a.k.a. Underworld. I hoped for my own sake that I was wrong. More whispers broke out around me.

"A child of Athena…" "Alive, too…" "Not even Hades knows where she came from…"

That's when I noticed that I was lying on some cushion-y material. It was grass, but it was faded murky green and rough. More people pushed and shoved their way around me. I was left in the middle of an empty circle, a no-man's (or the dead's, for that matter)-land. I caught a glimpse of a young dark haired boy, but when I focused, he turned transparent until I gave up and sighed.

"Speak, child of Athena. How did you come here??" a throaty voice contradicted me, and the dead flinched away and drifted further away from the circle. Completely unnerved by the voice, I looked up – and wished I hadn't.

I was looking at a trio of evil math teachers (gulp), kitted out in the most revolting velvet jacket and their shrivelled skin coated with cosmetics. They held a whip in their hand and a piece of paper – a math test? – and had on a horn-rimmed glasses with fake jewels. A sneer was plastered on their wrinkled faces. My brain screamed,_ uh-oh_.

"Take her to Hades," sneered Mrs Dodds, who was at the front.

"Wait a -" I protested, but was silenced by their menacing whips that crackled with fire. The other two grabbed me by my two bruised arms and, ignoring the _ouches_ and _not theres_ that I shouted out, the Furies glided across the Field of Asphodel and toward a huge palace. The architect part of me was making rather critical comments; _too much gilding at the carvings, it'd better off with another flight of stairs and black marble arch at the entrance._ The sane part of me thought; _AAAAAARGH!!! I'M ABOUT TO BE VICTIMIZED BY SOME UNHOLY DEMON TEACHERS!!!_

After a long flight over some horrific sights of torture and the astonishingly beautiful Isles of the Blest, I was green in the face and very near vomiting. I slumped helplessly to the ground, my heart hammering as I was set at the feet of the Throne of Hades. Grinning skulls decorated the black gilded marble.

"Alecto, bring her here." Came a voice that chilled me to my heart.

"Look, Lord Hades, I don't know why I'm here but-" I started angrily at the scowling god. I made sure that I stared only at his royal feet though, so that I wouldn't have to face the Helm of Darkness that inserted fear in my long-suffering heart.

"Silence!!!" roared the god, rising angrily from his seat. Persephone, looking very bored, just continued on playing hide-and-seek with a sunflower, not even flinching at the shout. I risked a glance at the corpse-white face and immediately regretted it. His wild, inky eyes seemed to burn my face.

"Tell me, demigod, HOW DID YOU ENTER THE WORLD OF DEAD WITHOUT CROSSING THE RIVER STYX OR THE TUNNEL OF ORPHEUS!!!" he thundered. Persephone was now knitting a sweater with ivy and roses, humming "This Land Is Minos's Land" as she twisted her fingers in the air.

"I…I don't know." I answered in a small voice. Something nagged my memory, but I couldn't figure out what.

"Child," he took a deep breath. "If _you_ could come down to my realms without me noticing, then _a whole army_ could sneak up to me without me noticing!"

"Dear, you only didn't notice her because she was just _one_ half-blood. You are fretting over nothing here." The Queen of the Underworld rolled her eyes and the roses rolled back and forth like her. I had a strange and completely mad urge to giggle.

Hades took a deep, shuddering breath. "If you are a spy for Kronos-"

"Excuse me??" I exploded. "I was one of the demigods who sent Kronos to Tartarus when he was destroying the Western Civilization brick by brick!!"

Hades just glared at me. I glared back at him, ignoring the bruise that was throbbing just under my cheekbone.

"My…my Lord?? A messenger from Olympus." An un-dead servant of Hades stuttered.

He took the thin gold plate out a word and gazed at it. Then a truly evil smile played along his pressed lips.

"Why, Annabeth Chase, you have a visitor." Then he gestured at the door.

And leaning on the marble doorway, his sandy hair mussed up and his lips crinkled to a smile, was Luke.

--

**Sorry this chapter was so short, I'll try to make it up to you next time!!**

**Smiles,**

**Annabeth**


	7. Lotus Island

"Luke??" I whispered, unable to believe my eyes. My wounds and sores, all but forgotten, I yelled, "LUKE!!!" as I charged toward the grinning figure. _Just like the old times, _my dream-self thought happily_, before all the war junk –_

I stopped cold. His arms closed around the empty air and slowly, his magnificent smile faded. "Annabeth?" he asked uncertainly. "Are you alright?" As if he cared. We stood, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally I turned around, tears welling in my owl-grey eyes. Why did he have to do this to me? Wasn't it enough that I fell for his tricks nearly every time and endangered my friends?

"Annabeth, I know I've done a terrible crime, wounded our friendship and nearly destroyed the world, but surely you know that -"

"That I know what, Luke Castellan? I don't know you anymore. You've turned into our enemy, Luke. You turned evil." I spat. He flinched. My heart felt like it was being torn in two. I wanted to believe him, to cross the gleaming marble floor and to put my arms around him, to tell him that I loved him –

But I didn't.

Did I?

Then his warm voice, suddenly cold and heartless, made _me_ flinch and gulp. "But what about _you_, Annabeth? _I_ was the one who first found you after you left your home. _I _was the one who protected you from the _dracaenaes_ as we journeyed to the Camp. I asked you to stay with me, to be with me forever, but _you didn't listen_." he snarled. I took a step back and stumbled over the tangled mess of heavy chains that the Furies had used on me.

In a flash he was by my side, and when I say a flash, I mean a flash. I blinked and before a gasp had even worked up my throat, he was hauling me up by my arm.

"Thanks," I panted. I looked up and saw his face thrown in the relief of the torches at last.

"Luke!" I breathed.

"Yeah, I know." He grimaced.

His tanned, lightly freckled skin was nowhere to be seen, replaced only by pearly, solid smoke. His hair was the usual sandy gold mess, but the colour was oddly washed out. Even his hands were unusually cold against my skin. I shuddered involuntarily and he let go, his expression hardening.

"Just because I fell for Kronos' trick," he muttered sadistically under his breath. "Anyone and everyone would've fallen for that. Even that Jackson kid."

I opened my mouth to protest. "Just because he -"

"Just because he _what_?" and in that second, blended with his new look, he looked truly frightening to me as he circled me.

I still didn't let it go. "He is a true friend, Luke -" but the rest of the words were choked back into my throat as I remembered with horror how he never talked and hung around with me now. How he never comforted me when I needed a friend. How he could, while knowing how I felt, let Chelsea smarm around him. How he neglected me.

I started sobbing and Luke gently wiped a tear away from my eyes. His skin didn't feel so cold anymore. It felt warm, glowing. _True_, I tried to convince myself. _He_ had _turned good again before he died._ But the doubt was always there, just waiting to encase my head in my worst memories.

"Yeah, yeah. Now if you two cursed demigods may excuse me, I have way important things than to watch two snivelling lovebirds flood my palace. Now GET OUT!!" Hades snapped. Persephone's purple-and-gold-polka-dotted orange and silver roses burst into black flames just as she started curling the petals with her long fingers. She glared at her glowering husband. "They were for Hestia! And they took ages to get the dots right!" she shook her head in disbelief.

Luke helped me into a sleek midnight black carriage decorated on the sides with licking red flames that seemed to flicker with unnerving reality. There was a head of a boar with a spear through its head painted on the front. Two skeletal horses snorted and neighed at the front as Luke grabbed onto the leather reigns.

"Umm… Luke, is it just me, or does this chariot belong to Lord Ares?" I asked nervously. Luke grinned his familiar grin.

"Yep, borrowed it off him, 'cos this one's the fastest. Even Apollo's sun chariot can't beat it." A distant rumble of thunder made me shrink in to the seat despite the very human-skin like texture of the leather. "Anyway," he continued. "He lent it to me, no problem. Said I could keep it for as long as you were here." He smiled at me.

I said nothing. I knew that he would be returning that chariot today.

Or maybe I could just stay the night, seeing how late it was getting.

Or maybe a couple more days, just talking to Luke?

I shuddered. Horrified at the possibilities that kept popping into my brain, I busied myself with brushing away at invisible dust on the seat while the scenary zoomed past us.

"So…" Luke cleared his throat. He cast a funny glance at my direction, like he was nervous or something. I smiled tentatively back. Suddenly my gaze zeroed on the thing that was stuffed so carelessly underneath his seat. Little blood that I had regained from my encounter with Hades drained from my face. My eyes widened with shock and horror.

"Luke!!!" I breathed. "What did you do to them?"

The boy before me whipped around with a blinding speed and snatched it from its hiding place. But I had already seen it. My old best friend, how could he?? But my questions died in my throat as Luke dragged me out of the chariot and on to the lush stretch of green grass. The sky was an endless ripple of turquoise. Exquisite flowers blossomed around us. There were cream-white marble buildings in impossibly magnificent structures everywhere. But my eyes were staring with disbelief, because, I knew this place.

"How…?" I whispered hoarsely. I was still frozen in the chariot, and the loveliness of this place curved around the chariot as a wolf might avoid the hunter's hut. Luke stepped out. He looked completely free, youthful, so innocent. He smiled. "Come out, Annabeth."

"Luke, how…? But we were in the Underworld just before…? How did you escape from Underworld, I mean, you're dead, right?" Luke's smile became wooden as I uttered the word 'dead', but he quickly composed himself again.

"Don't worry, it's just the chariot. It's Lord Ares', remember? So, come out, Annabeth. You'll love it here."

I clenched my jaws. "If you think I'm going to fall for that, you are _so_ mistaken. I'm not stupid. This is the _Lotus Island_. Of course I read the _Odyssey_!" I snarled. Luke wasn't fazed. He just sneered right back.

"Well, well. You could do with a bite of lunch, you know." With that he deliberately slowed down his supernatural pace and started to walk toward me. He reached over and grabbed my arm. I shrank from his touch and fumbled for my knife, only to realise that Alecto must've taken it off me. With his amazing strength, he dragged me out with one quick flex of his arm. I thrashed around wildly, but my protests died out with a whiff of the rose-scented (and magic-scented) air of the place. _No!_ My mind screamed. _I will not be tricked by Luke again!_ But Luke's cool hand grasped my shoulders and the other forced my chin up. Fearing the worst, I looked up and saw the source of the mesmerizing smell. A fruit, no bigger than a strawberry, was sitting on the palm of his hands, and it's colour and texture seemed to shimmer like the island itself. What was left of my will was threatening to crumble.

"Eat." He whispered. I shook my head frantically. No doubt it was the Lotus Fruit, the one that two of Odysseus' men ate. It creates desire to stay on this island forever. My eyes widened and my mouth clamped shut as Luke forced the fruit into my mouth…

* * *

**sorry that took so long. with the writer's block and the endless tides of homework, i just couldn't wrap my head around it.  
remember to review/comment/criticize (resonably, thank you)/question!!**

**thank you all,**

**Annabeth**

**p.s. oh by the way, i might not be able to update for a while, i'm so sorry about that...**


	8. Here We Go

**Hi, I'M BACK! Sorry I kept you all waiting… but with my dad kidnapping the laptop AND the avalanche of homework, AND the writer's block, I just couldn't wrap my head around it all…**

**Anyway, back to the story… remember to review/ask questions/criticize (constructive, please!)/whatever! **

**P.S. Sorry it's so short!**

I glanced for the five millionth time at Grover, who was chewing absent-mindedly on Juniper's handkerchief. We were both extremely nervous, fretting over Annabeth. I glanced at the watch that Tyson had given me after the war of Olympus. Tyson had insisted on making a new one for me when I admitted sheepishly that I had broken his other one. It was 5 in the morning, but none of us wanted to sleep. Besides, facing Chelsea back in my cabin (with a herd of Aphrodite girls, no doubt) was too much to stomach in one day. I cleared my throat nervously, and Grover looked over to me with wide, frightened eyes.

"Y-yeah, Percy?" he asked.

"Well…" My throat tightened and my eyes lingered on the shimmering water of the lake. I've nearly lost Annabeth before, and I wasn't about to take chances again. "I was wondering if… if you could do that mind-connect thing with Annabeth-" it was harder saying her name than I thought it would be. "…so that we know where she is…"

A light of hope died away slowly in Grover's eyes. "_Perrr-cy_!" he bleated, tearing the flower-embroidered handkerchief into two. Juniper wasn't going to be pleased. I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he went on talking as if he was agitated. "My mind weakened so much after that, you know that. And Annabeth…well, you tell nearly everything to me. It's different with her. She keeps things to herself. It'll be harder to link minds with a secretive person." _And she could die, and I with her,_ he seemed to be saying silently.

The conch horn blew in the distance, and I walked numbly up to the dining hall. Then a skinny arm grabbed my shirt as I passed a maple tree. My heart jumped in fright as my guinea-pig self screamed, _'BOLT!'_.

"It's okay! It's just me, Percy." It was just Nico. I breathed again, my face growing hot with embarrassment. But, to my relief, he seemed obvious to my obvious discomfort, though my cheeks were hot enough to evaporate hydra poison. I looked up, and stifled a gasp.

To be absolutely honest, Nico looked like he had just taken a holiday to Tartarus. His pitch-black eyes looked unsettlingly big in his drawn face, and the bags under them even bigger. He was really skittery, and he kept scanning the perimeter, like he was afraid of his own shadows. Being the son of Hades, he really needn't have bothered.

"Percy… I, uh, heard about Annabeth. And…" he took a deep breath. "I want to go with you. To the Underworld."

I stood gawking at the slight boy in ratty black clothes. "Uh…" was all I could manage. Quickly composing my face, I continued. "Um, I really don't know who told you that, but I -" then I choked on my words because I knew they weren't true. I was about to say that I wasn't going to the Underworld, but suddenly I knew that I was going, that I was going anyway no matter what happened. The face of Annabeth, terrified but also outraged at the same time, haunted me in broad daylight.

"We should go." Nico said quietly.

"No." I said firmly. "_I_ am going, but you MUST stay here at the Camp." Seeing the look on his face, I pressed on, not giving him a chance to protest. "You are not well, Nico. And you know that it's impossible to stay inconspicuous _down there _when you have a son of Hades in your group." _And you are too easily swayed by your father, _I added silently.

"Fine." Nico's lips were a hard line in his pale face.


	9. Sisyphus

**You can sue me for taking so long with this… I honestly have no excuse.**

**So, so, so, so, so, soooooooo sorry!**

Luke's POV:

I watched, expressionless, as the blonde girl before me rose dreamily and started to wander off towards a bronze statue of Athena. Was it the right thing to do? Was I a monster, as Annabeth and Thalia has accused me so pointedly of? I shook my head to clear the thought, but I couldn't quite suppress a glance toward my unnatural skin, neither liquid nor gas, definitely not solid. A startlingly familiar, carefree laughter reached my ears, and my neck snapped up so fast that no mortal eye could've seen it, even if they could exist on this beautiful, ancient world.

It was Annabeth. Of course. I remembered that laughter. It was the same laughter that rang in my ears when she accidentally fell off a makeshift raft, grinning as I hauled her up, weeds in her hair and her foot caked with wet mud. The same laughter that echoed in the clearing as she picked singed bits of leaves off my hair after we defeated our first manticore.

I couldn't help but feel a spark of hope igniting in my heart (ha, ha, forgot that I didn't have one at the moment) as I watched Annabeth waltz up and down the soft grass up to the marble temple. The native spirits (now invisible) carried her old clothes (tattered Camp shirt and cut-off combat trousers, now both rather grimy) after her, who was now wearing a simple grey Greek dress. Her hair was freshly washed and hung right down to her waist. Her lips stretched up into a smile, but her eyes were vague and cloudy. My own smile faded as she wandered off toward the fruit trees, her expression vacant. She stumbled up the stairs, nearly falling over an invisible obstacle. My supernatural reflex reacted immediately, and was steadying the girl faster than you could say _Barnacle-Beard_. Not that I would've dared to. Not yet.

Percy's POV:

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" I groaned as I heaved the huge boulder. In fact, the word _huge_ didn't even begin to cover it. Mountainous. Humongous. The size of that cursed Sisyphus's swollen head.

"To… Save… Annabe…" gasped Grover, sparks dancing across under his hooves as he slipped for the millionth time.

"Just half a metre left now, Jackson." Trilled a very irritatingly cheery voice. "Give or take a couple of kilometres!"

That did it.

"AAAAAARGH!" I groaned in frustration as I felt my arms give in. But I held on with grim perseverance. How many seconds, or minutes, have passed, I had no idea. But I had to do this. Wise Girl was counting on me. I remembered her rolling her eyes whenever I did something especially stupid, which was often.

With one mighty heave I _nearly_ reached the top of the mountain… I wasn't stupid enough to push it up more, and my body was aching like I just had Ares, Phobus and Deimos all have a go at me at the same time.

"There!" I panted, my voice rasping. My sweat-slickened hair may have been sticking up in spikes, but my eyes were blazing. "One trip up the Mountain. We made a deal, Sisyphus."

"Yeah, Sisyphus." Mimicked Grover's not-so-rasping voice. _Thanks for all the help_, I mouthed at him. He suppressed a grin as he helped me keep the boulder up.

"Well," Said Sisyphus, his hungry, demented eyes boring into mine. It was not a very nice, _thank-you-for-all-your-help-please-come-again_ stare. I gulped, my knees almost buckling under the rock twice the size of Moon.

"Well," he repeated. "The thing is, Perseus Jackson, I am _quite tired_ of heaving that boulder up and down that oversized hill. So I thought I'd be nice and pass that job down to you. You're welcome. No need to thank me. My pleasu-" and he was stopped in the middle of his gloating by a particularly loud bleat from Grover the Satyr.

I just felt numb. I couldn't believe it. I just fell for the oldest ruse in the book. And it just so happens to be the one _the other hero _Hercules fell for when he tried to bargain with Atlas. Oh, the irony.

Before I could even say _Wait, let me adjust my invisible Nemean Lion skin over my shoulder_, the backstabbing backstabber was gone with a flick of his greasy hair.

I silently cursed Sisyphus and my own stupidity to the deepest pits of Tartarus.

"Grover… You go. Save Annabeth. Make her safe. I'll be okay." I grunted, my limbs already shaking.

"But _Perrrr-cy_!"

"Just… Go…"

"No. Here, you go." Grover's pale face was set. "I'll hold the rock."

"Grover! I am telling you-"

"PERCY!"

A haggard face appeared from no-where and stumbled to my feet. I was so surprised that I nearly let go of the rock, which would've made a nice Percy-pancake for the Furies to enjoy.

"Nico?" Grover and I whispered in unison.

But it was too late. The tiny figure had already collapsed from exhaustion.

"Shadow… travelling… takes out… too much… energy."


End file.
